The bar chart illustrates the proportions of women in Australia who gave birth to their first child in 1966, 1986, and 2006.
Overall, it can be clearly observed that women in Australia tended to have their first child at older ages over time. The percentage of females aged 19-24 showed a downward trend, while the opposite was true for first-time mothers aged 30-34.
In 1966, around 62% of individuals giving birth to their first baby in Australia were women aged 19-24, which was twice as many as those aged under 19. Although both proportions represented top two categories in this year, it fell to below 30% for the former and just over 10% for the latter in 2006.
Moving on to the other age groups, in 1966, the percentage of females aged 30-34 and 34-39 were approximately 12% and 8%, respectively. In 2006, the proportion of women aged 30 to 34 peaked at 45%, making it the most common age group to have a first child, whereas the 34–39 group increased to about 30%. In general, both of them exhibited a significant upward trend over the past 40 years.
Lastly, the figures for first-time mothers 25-30 aged group were 36% which was higher than the over 40 aged group, which had only 3% throughout the period. By 2006, there was a slight increase in the proportion of women over 40 having their first child with 6%, although it was not significant compared to the sharp rise in the 25-30 age group.